


To Dare

by flinchflower



Series: Slash Me Twice [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hero Worship, M/M, Wincest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-15
Updated: 2011-10-15
Packaged: 2017-10-24 15:10:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flinchflower/pseuds/flinchflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt 5: Dare.  Why the Winchesters do what they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Dare

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not for profit, simply a writing exercise. Herein lies Dean/Sam slash, in an AU timeline where John did not lose his life. John appears in parental context only.

“To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”  
~Soren Kierkegard

When the Winchester boys were young, when they still believed in superpowers and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, before they learned to distrust things that couldn’t be explained and found out that leprechauns were nasty biting little pests on occasion, they knew that their father was something bigger than life. He was always stronger, faster and smarter than every monster they came across, even the human monsters who tried to masquerade as something supernatural. He pushed them past their own limits in the places where he knew how to do so, and Dean never failed to be astounded at the things he could do, when John Winchester got behind him with a firm command.

Sam being Sam, it took him longer to come around to that understanding.

Sam liked things safe, lined up, explainable. He liked his explanations quick, and accessible in the card catalogue in the library, was just more comfortable chasing things with his oversized brain. Spent his teen years hating that Dean and John would spend more time out there toting guns and knives and saltpeter than they did looking for the reasons why.

Hated it until life smacked him in the face, and Dean dashed into a blazing fire to drag Sam out for the second time in their lives, that is. When his tears eased months later, Sam was reminded of the time when John Winchester was their own private action hero. Reminded of the stories they used to whisper to each other at night when John was out on a long hunt, left them with Pastor Jim and their own worries. That night, he saw his big brother as a hero.

That disconnect jarred Sam out of grief, and into a realization. John Winchester’s firm command, the angry, shouted words, “Don’t come back,” had driven Sam at Stanford harder than he’d have dreamed, echoed in his mind, thrown his world off balance. It turned him not into just a law student, but a supernatural researcher who would eventually rival Bobby and Pastor Jim, turned him into a man who knew how to keep his family safe in other ways that didn’t involve shotguns or pure silver buck knives. Because it was the only way he could find his dream, and dare to defy his father at the same time.

So he follows Dean when his hero comes for him, rode around in their own version of the Batmobile, learned in the eyes of the people they saved what it was like to be someone else’s hero. All because they knew when to jump and when to hide, all because Sam knew how to get them there, and Dean knew how to get them back out. They’ve got their father back from the dead, and now they are three, now they are a family again, in the face of all the odds, an odd balance to the three of them, even though they’re still living on the road, shiftless, restless, would even be homeless without the sleek black lines of the Impala.

And they each find their balance. Now, there’s nights after a hunt when John sits up late with his journal, now not so much researching, but waiting for the moment when both boys are asleep, when he can tug the covers closer over their strong shoulders, listen to the deep breaths chasing one another. There’s nights when Dean slides into bed late, worn out from figuring out which way to jump next, and Sam just rolls over without even waking, pulling Dean in close, and suddenly Dean can breathe free again. After hunts, when Sam wraps his arms around his father’s shoulders, feeling big and awkward, and wishing he was six again so that John could sweep him into his arms, leave the grief behind on the dirty floor, John manages without words to leave Sam able to stand straight, spit at danger again.

And in the morning, they’re racing out on the heels of a Sammy-vision, world tilting on it’s axis, short on time with the scent of danger was all around. Now, this life they’ve chosen, they’re a family, and they’re going out, ready to tip the balance between them and evil in their favor. Because they are Winchesters, they were action heroes, knowing when to fall, and when to catch each other, and above all, because they dared.

**Author's Note:**

> Music:Indigo Girls - You And Me of the 10,000 Wars


End file.
